Sophiyat Ramadan Sadiq

Sophiyat Ramadan Sadiq

Nigeria

Growing up in a slum brought a lot of happiness and contentment. As a child, I loved the sense of community it provided, until the sense of community became a threat to us females. I slowly watched the girls I play with become mothers and forced to abandon their education. I was robbed of my innocence but I got the better end of the deal. Other girls were not as lucky as I was and I made it a point to protect the ones like me and the ones after me. At 14, I already understood the damage society caused on young girls and I started first by learning some ICT skills and teaching it to other young girls. By collaborating with other organizations, I was able to personally reach and train almost a thousand girls through different ICT skills. When COVID hit I saw the opportunity to really disrupt the education system for young girls nationally and globally by approaching their learning in a different way. I started my non-profit to approach digital education for young girls distinctively through unique and collaborative training methods. The success achieved from this project and my life work has led me to being named as one of the first ever Kofi Annan Changemakers continuing the work of the incredible late UN Secretary General while also supporting my non-profit through funds. I have been accepted as a BeyGOOD fellow at Global Citizen, where I contribute to the education strategy of my country. I serve as a youth envoy for the United Nations, International Telecommunications Union, designing policies to assist the organization in helping countries in the African Union. With an honors degree in computer science, I work to ensure young girls everywhere can access quality tech education.